Love in the Lab
by Rakko
Summary: Eighteen years ago, two children met in a preschool in Michigan. What will happen now that they are reunited? Zack/OC Hodgins/Angela -More inside-, after The Pain in the Heart Episode 4/15 Chap 2: Revamped, Chap 3: In progress
1. Chapter 1

_Characters Listed in ranking at the Jeffersonian:  
Dr. Camille "Cam" Saroyan  
Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan  
Special Agent Seeley Booth  
Dr. Jack Hodgins  
Angela "Ange" Montenegro  
Dr. Zackary "Zack" Addy  
Special Agent/Dr. Amy Holly Hollester  
Dr. Lance Sweets_

_Story: Eighteen years ago, two children met at a preschool in Michigan. From first glance, they knew they would be best friends. The two friends grew-up together and had a lasting friendship beyond what most people could comprehend. Until something changed within him, and he started to fall for her; but his friendship was too valuable, so he kept his feelings a secret. If only he realized that she was in love with him too. One day, they swore on each other's blood that they would always be together and one day work in the same field, as they were both very passionate about forensics._

_However, things were not meant to be. Around the girl's sixteenth birthday, her father got a job in Canada. She had been allowed to stay in Michigan with her friend for eight days, but the day after her birthday she was forced to fly to Montreal. Despite the distance, she never went back on her word. Earning dual doctorates in forensic anthropology and forensic entomology, and currently studying forensic psychology, she found a great job with the Quebec Provincial Police. _

_But when the Jeffersonian is in need of another brain for a very difficult case, they send for the best student in North America. She flies down to DC and the two best friends, after seven years, are reunited. Will their love for each other stay strong? Or has the past seven years of being so antisocial and work focus changed him beyond recognition? Only time will tell!_

Finally! She was getting out of this place! Amy Hollester had lived in Montreal, Canada for eighteen years; and though she loved it there, it was time to get out. She had been called to the Jeffersonian Institute in Washington DC by none other than Dr. Temperance Brennan, one of the best Forensic Anthropologists in the country, if not the world, to work long term on a puzzling case.

It had taken her all of ten seconds to answer "yes" to Dr. Brennan's request, and had been given just hours to collect her possession together and get herself on a plane to D.C. Thankfully she didn't have much to pack, so it didn't take long. She had shoved all of her clothes into a large bag, tossed on a pair of shoes, grabbed her phone and iPod off the kitchen counter, ate a muffin and headed down to the lobby. After checking out of her temporary apartment and hailing a cab, she was finally on her way to the airport, only to stand in what felt like a thousand different lines; check-in, bag check, security, more security, boarding. With only minutes to spare, she slumped down in her airplane seat, letting out a huge sigh of relief. The plane ride lasted approximately 5 hours, and she sat impatiently through the whole thing, much to the chagrin of her seatmate.

Finally touching down at Dulles International Airport, Amy exited the craft and made a beeline for Baggage Claim. Rescuing her lone duffle, she calmly headed outside into the bright sunshine of Washington D.C. Her dream job, working at the Jeffersonian, was so close she could nearly taste it! She found a taxi and headed over to the museum. Only after she had stridden confidently through the front door did she realize that she had no idea where to go. She walked up to the information desk and gave them her name. The guy only nodded and handed her a dark blue lab coat and pointed toward the elevator. "Three."

Amy thanked him and slowly headed to the elevator. Her breathing became shallow. She was only three floors below the famed Dr. Brennan and soon, they would meet. Amy pressed the button and the doors slid open. She stepped into them, carefully watching all her movements and pressed the 'three' button. It only took a minute to get to the third floor. Amy took a deep breath and put on her lab coat before exiting into the main Medico-Legal laboratory.

The place was huge and very shiny, standing in stark contrast to what she was used to. There was a huge platform in the center and there where about fifteen people working at different sections. She was finally here; she just hoped she could stay. From what she had gathered on the phone, she wasn't the first person that had been asked for this job; she just wondered why they needed someone so quickly. She took another deep breath and headed to the stairs that led to the platform, which was guarded by a burly looking security guard. Chancing a glance past the rent-a-cop, she nearly fainted. There stood Dr. Brennan, talking to some of the other people on the platform. This was all too good to be true.

"Who are you?" Amy whirled around to find a tall woman with black hair pulled tightly into a bun. She wore a chocolate brown long sleeved shirt and nice black pants. She had a clipboard in her hand and was giving Amy a look of interest.

"Oh um yea." She put a lock of her dark red hair behind her ear. "I'm Amy…Hollester. I was called by Dr. Brennan."

"Oh, right, Hollester." She took a badge that had been clipped to her shirt and swiped it through what looked like a credit card scanner. The red light turned green and she headed onto the platform, motioning Amy to follow. "Dr. Brennan. This is Hollester."

"Oh yes!" Dr. Brennan turned and smiled at Amy. "Dr. Hollester." She held out her hand. Amy took it and grinned.

"Hey, Dr. Brennan."

"Wait Dr.?" A tall man with broad shoulders and a deep sense of brooding, deeply set eyes and a nice tux spoke, his face ridden with shock.

"That's right. She has a doctorate in Forensic Anthropology, Forensic Entomology and she is studying Forensic…Psychology. She has also worked with Suerte de Quebec, the Quebec Provincial Police.

"Wow. That's…somethin'…So. Is she workin' for us now, Bones?"

Dr. Brennan shrugged. "Her resume certainly is impressive. But that doesn't mean anything. She needs to prove herself."

"Oh, hey! I can do that. I'm all about the proof."

A girl with curly hair laughed. "She's just like him. I think she'll take his place just fine." Ah, so she had been right. She had been offered this job because someone else had left. Judging by the uneasy look on Dr. Brennan's face, she could tell it was sore subject and so she decided to leave it alone. Unsure of what to do, she rocked on her heels and stuck her hands in the pockets of her coat.

"Dr. Hollester, This is Dr. Hodgins, Angela Montenegro, Dr. Saroyan, and Special Agent Booth." Dr. Brennan said, indicating each member of the team in turn.

"Hey." Amy grinned sheepishly as she looked around at the other four people in the room. It had been Angela that had spoken out earlier.

"Nice to meet you, Amy."

"Same here."

Suddenly, Booth's cell phone rang. He reached into his pocket and pulled it out, answering. "Booth. Yea. Ok, we'll be there in ten." He closed the Razor Phone and stuck it back in his pocket. "Bones, we gotta case. Should we…take her?"

Dr. Brennan turned to Amy and smiled. "Yes. We don't want to make the same…mistake we did with him. We should get her started in the real world. Come on Amy."

"Um, ok." She followed Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth out to his car, where she sat in the back seat. They found their way to a convenience store only a few miles away from the Jeffersonian.

"All right, this is the place." Booth shut of the engine and opened his door. Both the girls got out. There where plenty of police cars parked outside and yellow tape around the front door. The trio ducked under it and headed in. "Oh. Booth. It's back here." Someone called out. He nodded and followed the voice to the back corner of the store. A decomposed corpse lay on the ground, the site markers and parameters already up. A few people where taking pictures.

"Well, Amy?" Dr. Brennan asked.

She took a deep breath and bent down, kneeling beside the corpse. "He was killed by a single stab wound to the chest about Hmm…five days ago. I'd estimate him at about 18 years of age."

"Good. Anything else?"

"He liked the cold. He was a snowboarder." She looked up at the other two.

"How can you tell that?"

"Stress markers on the bones. It looks as if he also broke his leg about a year ago in a in a snowboarding accident. It healed."

"Good. We need this body sent to the Jeffersonian, and all this food and the products in these three isles." Brennan motioned to the isles around the corpse. Then she laid her hand on Amy's shoulder. "Well done. Now let's get back."

The three turned and headed back to Booth's car. They fastened up and headed for the Institute. They arrived before the body and the evidence, so Brennan decided to give Amy the tour. She took the new girl through Angela, Hodgins, and her own work stations before finishing at one down the hall. "This is your office, should you get the job."

"What about Agent Booth. And um, that guy who's hanging around that you didn't introduce me to."

"Oh, him. Right, well. That is Dr. Lance Sweets. He's our, profiler. Should you get the job, you will be working as his assistant to further your Forensic Psychology degree."

"Um. If I may ask, why do you keep saying it like that? 'If you get the job'".

"Dr. Hollester-

"Amy is fine."

"Amy, I have talked to a lot of people about this job. None have been as qualified as you, nowhere near, but I'm just not sure what we all need right now. If we need a replacement."

"Shouldn't the head of the Forensics team be deciding who is and is not hired? Dr. Saroyan?"

"Yes, of course, but I give her the decision, she does the official work."

"Ah…"

"Amy. Could I talk to you in my office? Alone." It was Angela.

"Um. Sure…" Amy turned and followed the attractive, dark-haired woman into a large room with a square stand in the center and a desk with some computers not far off. Once they where inside and Angela had shut the doors she turned and suddenly she didn't look as pretty.

"Listen. You'll soon figure out the way things are around here, You don't mention Him. You make no notion to ask or even imply your interest in why you where called here when you did. You don't know the story, you never will. No one will tell you about Him so just leave it alone. If you put Brennan in pain I will eat you alive. Got it?"

Amy lifted her eyebrows and watched the elder girl closely. "I wasn't planning on asking. I'm just happy to be out of Montreal. I wasn't intending to…inflict pain."

"Oh. In that case, this never happened. I think we could be great friends."

"Ok…cool…So…What's that?" Amy turned suddenly and pointed to the stand.

"Oh. That's the Angelator. I designed it, it helps us reconstruct images and discover what really happened at the crime scenes using basic science and logic."

"Oh. Sounds hi-tech."

"It is. I'm sure you'll get to see it on this case."

"Gals, it's here." Hodgin's head poked into Angela's office and the two headed out to the platform. Amy nearly stepped onto the shiny metal when Angela's arm shot in front of her. She held out the card that had been attached to the pocket on her coat and swiped it. The three walked onto the platform.

The body was laid out on a silver table and Dr. Brennan was already leaning over it. Booth and Sweets sat off to one side while Cam had a clip board ready. Angela joined the guys in the corner and Hodgins and Amy joined Brennan, leaning over the table. The two of them put on latex gloves.

"This one should be fun. No soil to work with. A convenience store, you said?" Cam nodded." Ah, linoleum. That's always fun."

"See if you can find out how long he's been dead-"

"I'd say a week to ten days, judging the stage of the maggots. But I don't think he was killed here."

Everyone on the platform turned to look at Amy. "What? Did I do something wrong?"

Then Hodgins spoke. "The bugs and dirt is my turf, princess."

"Oh. I'm sorry." She bowed her head. "It's just that, back at my lab I pretty much did it all. And I mean it all. From the bones to the bugs, even the police work and the arresting. I didn't realize I had overstepped my bounds."

"No, no. It's fine. Maybe with you around I can get a day off of work for" He glanced at Angela, "Other things." Amy looked from one to the other and nodded slowly. Ah, this was a fun lab.

"Well you aren't off the job yet so get those bugs and start working." Cam said, pointing to the corpse.

"All right, fine." Hodgins scrapped a few bugs from the body and put them in a container, taking them to his work station.

"Amy, I need to you to start analyzing the wound. We need the murder weapon."

Amy nodded. Of course, Dr. Brennan." She bent low over the single wound in the victim's chest. "Single stab wound. Through the heart. Weopon was about three inches in diameter here, where it struck. And" She bent down to look under the table, coming up a few seconds later. "Right. Your tables aren't…transparent." Angela and Sweets laughed. "May I?"

"Of course." Brennan replied.

Amy gently lifted the right shoulder of the victim to take a look at its back. "Um, exit is about a quarter of an inch in diameter, meaning this thing came to a point. I can identify any particulates left in the wound to see what this thing was made of."

"Get to it."

Amy turned and found a small plastic circular tray and salvaged some of the flesh, setting it on the tray and heading toward her station. Once there she grabbed the micro scope and started looking at the flesh. Her eyebrows furrowed as she lifted her head. There was no metal or wood in the wound. In fact, there was nothing. She stood and headed back to the platform. "Dr. Brennan? There's something you should probably see."

"I'll be right there." Dr Brennan said. She had been talking to Booth and looked relieved to be called away. Amy walked back to her station, Dr Brennan only a few steps behind her.

"It's here." Amy pointed to the microscope and Brennan sat, peering through it.

"There's nothing here."

"Exactly. No particulates of metal or wood."

"That is interesting. We'll see where that takes us. Come back to the platform with me." Amy nodded and followed Brennan back. Once there, Brennan turned and addressed Booth. "There are no particulates in the wound. At all. There was nothing I would have recognized from any weapon I've seen but then again, I'm not the expert."

"Are we allowed?" It was Cam.

Brennan shrugged. "We're just visiting."

Cam raised her eye brows and nodded. "All right. Lets do this."

"I'm coming." It was Angela and Hodgins in unison.

"We can't all go." Dr. Brennan said.

"Why not?" It was Angela. "We have a right to see him, he's our friend and we won't pass up a chance to visit." She had her arms crossed as she stared at Brennan.

"Ok, you can come." She headed toward the platform exit. "Amy, go get the microscope and flesh." Amy nodded and headed back to her workstation, picked up the equipment and ran to catch up with the others.

The entire party crammed themselves into Booth's car. Thankfully, it wasn't a long drive, only fifteen minutes. Amy fingered the microscope, opening her mouth to say something then stopped. Her brain tried to fathom who they could be going to visit, but she figured she would meet them soon enough.

They parked and all got out of the car. Amy looked up at the large, white building. "A psychiatric ward?"

Angela glanced at Amy. "Just go with it." She only nodded as the group headed inside. She stood back with the others as Dr. Brennan spoke to the guy at the counter. Then she nodded and headed over to the elevator. Floor two. They stepped out of the elevator and as if in a pack, the six moved over to a couch where a guy with shaggy brown hair sat playing chess. An odd game for a psychiatric ward, she thought wryly. He was dressed in simple striped pajamas, and he wore black gloves on his hands. Brennan walked over to stand behind him. "Hey." She said.

He turned to look at her, shocked. "Dr. Brennan!" He stood and walked in front of her. They hugged then he turned to look at the group, his face falling. He was staring at Amy, shock written all over his face. He walked slowly toward her, as if in a dream. He stopped about a foot away from her, noting the similar shocked expression she wore.

"Amy", "Zack" they said at the same time. In an instant all shock was gone and they hugged.


	2. Chapter 2

There was silence for a few minutes as the pair stared deeply into each other's eyes. Eventually the silence was broken by Angela who decided she could no longer take the suspense. "What's going on here guys?" No one answered her verbally but Brennan turned to her and shrugged. No body spoke for a few more minutes until Amy breathed, almost inaudibly. "Zack…"

Then, almost as if he had been awaiting voice conformation, he wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. "What are you doing here? And with them? And actually /here/? Is that a Jeffersonian lab coat? Are you here permanently? Are you on a case? How was Canada? What collage did you go to? Did you make the hockey team?-" At this Booth's head snapped up and his gaze fixed on Amy- "Do you have a doctorate? How many languages do you know? How is-" Amy let her hand fall gently over his mouth. He had been asking questions a mile a minute, not giving her enough time to even think of an answer.

"Zack, chill. We'll have plenty of time to discuss old times but right now…" She glanced up at Dr. Brennan who was holding a bag, "We're here on duty." She led Zack over to one of the dusty looking brown sofas and sat beside him, absentmindedly letting her hand fall onto his lab. Cam sat on Zack's right while Dr. Brennan, Agent Booth, Angela and Hodgins sat on the sofa opposite them. Brennan set the bag on the table and cleared the magazines and cups off, making room for the microscope Amy still held. She set down a cloth so as to keep any particulates and debris off of the coffee table. She grabbed a pair of latex gloves out of her pocket and put them on, then motioned for Amy to set down the device. She extracted a vile with the flesh out of her lab coat pocket and placed it onto a tray. Zack instantly leaned forward to peer through the microscope.

Zack opened his mouth to speak then stopped, furrowed his brows and closed it. He looked slowly up at Dr. Brennan and Hodgins, finally muttering: "There's nothing here?"

Hodgins was the one that answered. "Yea, no particulates on the wound at all. This is a sample taken from the hole found in the victim's chest. Your friend here says it's a stab wound."

Zack nodded, though his face was completely puzzled. Why would they have come to him for this? "I'm not good with flesh."

"But you where our weapons expert. Do you know of any weapons that wouldn't leave particles behind?" It as Dr. Brennan this time that spoke.

Zack looked over at her for a few seconds before returning to the microscope. "The flesh is smooth, suggesting whatever penetrated the body was smooth as well, suggesting a sharpened pipe but even that would leave behind traces of metal.

Hodgens was nodding now. "Yea, That's what I had been thinking"

"I'll keep thinking on it but without actually being able to look at the body I don't think I'll be much more help."

"Thanks, Zack. We should get back to the lab." Dr. Brennan repled.

Zack looked up at her and sighed, slightly sad that they where leaving so soon. The others stood but he didn't move until Amy had risen. He tried to grab at her coat but withdrew his white, bandaged wrapped hands with a hiss of pain. Amy turned back to look at him but he had already recomposed himself and stood. "You're leaving too?"

"I have to Zack. They need me there, but I'll be back as soon as we solve it; maybe before. We can talk about 'way back when' during my next visit." She smiled and hugged Zack lightly before stepping back and heading out the door with the others. Only Angela remained behind, a smile on her face as she watched their movements.

The team reached the museum about ten minutes later, filed out of the van and back up to the lab on the third story. Dr. Brennan was in the lead and swiped her card before entering the platform. The rest followed. Dr. Brennan grabbed the blue coat over a chair and started to put it on. Amy put on gloves then headed over to the body on the silver tray table. "So now what?" Angela asked, looking at her best friend. "Where do we start?"

Dr. Brennan looked up. "I'll have Amy clean the skull so you can give our victim a face." Angela just nodded and headed off of the platform. "Hodgins I need you to take a look at the bugs and try to find a more narrow time of death. Amy, I need you to strip the skull of flesh and take it to Angela, then keep looking at the body for any other signs of damage." Amy and Hodgins nodded. Amy and Cam carefully lowered the table down the stairs and over to the boiler. Once down the stairs, Cam left and Amy wheeled the body into her office. She prepared the boiler and checked the timer, noting that it would be approximately twelve minutes before it would be ready for the skull. With a few minutes to spare, she sat back in the rolling chair beside her desk and buried her face in her hands.

She was so unsure of everything now. When she had first been told by her father that they where moving to Canada, she had thought it had been a joke. Then he had told her that she could stay until her birthday, to stay with him for as long as possible. Obviously she had thanked her father for the opportunity but reluctantly, after her birthday she found herself parting with her only friend at the airport, possibly forever. She had spent seven months trying to get him out of her mind. Constantly his face kept entering her thoughts. Finally, she had buried herself into her school work and, though she never truly forgot about him, she was able to keep his voice out of her head. She had graduated high school two months later, community collage six months later and collage, with her doctorate in forensic anthropology three years later. Then she had gotten a job at the Skarlath Lab in Montreal and started for her degrees in entomology and recently psychology. She had also gotten a job on the Canadian Police Force to aid her lab as their Agent. It was a lot of work, but she had to keep busy all the time. When she wasn't working, she was at the rink, playing goalie for the Montreal Hawks, one of the highest leagues in the area; she and one of the centers where the only girls on the team.

But then she had received a call from Washington D.C. and an invitation to work at the fabled Jeffersonian Institute by none other then Dr. Temperance Brennan. Of course she had accepted to come along! Unfortunately, it had taken her two days to get a flight to D.C. booked, but she was there as soon as she could be. The eager young anthropologist had been in awe when she had finally met her idol, and, by the time she had found herself at the asylum she had all but forgotten about her childhood, making her surprise at seeing Zack's face all the more…real. But seeing him again, hearing his voice had almost sent her into shock. Deep down she had always known that she would see him again, to find some knowledge of his existence in a science magazine or something. He wasn't the type of person to come in second best at what he enjoyed, but she had never expected to find him checked into a psychiatric ward with bandaged hands and a guilty look lingering in his eyes.

She had just told herself that she would be back over there the first chance she got, even if it was before this case was finished. She didn't have to work the police angles, Booth had that; she didn't have to worry about the bugs and soil either, that was Hodgin's area now. All she had to do was strip the skull and look for additional wounds.

She was halfway through her thoughts when the timer beeped, making her jump nearly out of the seat. She stood and headed over to open the lid to the boiler, carefully placing the skull into the water with a pair of large tongs. Once done, she closed the lid and set the timer for forty-five minutes. That should give it enough time to boil and strip the flesh, as well as let it run through the 'rinse' cycle to remove the fleshy water from the case.

She then turned and walked over to the table with the body and started to look over the corpse. There was the snowboarding injury she had noted earlier, at the scene. She also noticed a broken wrist that was congruent with the victim using his wrist to block over his head, probably fighting back against his murderer. But there where no other stab wounds. She shook her head thoroughly confused this was unlike anything she had seen before. What could possible have created the wound but left nothing behind.

She stepped out into the hall and headed down to Dr. Brennan's office. "Dr. Brennan. I've put the skull in the boiler and I've taken another look at the body. I was only able to find breaks constant with the victim fighting back but only the single stab wound, suggesting when he was stabbed he was unconscious."

"Ok, good. You know, I don't really have anything else for you right now. Why don't you tag along with Dr. Sweets on his visit to see Zack."

"Why is he going to see Zack?"

"Because Sweet's is his therapist."

Amy nodded, still confused but decided not to further her line of questioning. "Where can I find him?"

"Probably on the platform."

Amy nodded and turned to leave, passing Hodgins on her way out. She didn't stop to listen to what he had to say. She was getting the chance she wanted to go back and see Zack; she wasn't going to blow it. But before she went to talk to Sweets, she returned to her station. The boiler was done so she removed the skull and mandible and placed them carefully on a tray, and then turned to take them to Angela. She set the little tray down on Angela's desk then turned to leave, heading for the platform.

She sighed in relief when she saw Dr. Sweets standing on the platform talking quietly to Angela. So that's why she hadn't been in her office. Amy only got one step in before a horrendous siren started. She gasped and her hands fled to her ears. The guard next to the platform reached for her. It all happened so suddenly before Sweets raced down the stairs to swipe his card through the machine. He grabbed her from the guard and helped her up the stairs. "There's an alarm on the platform."

"So I noticed!" Amy snapped. Sweets' face fell slightly. "I'm sorry, it just startled me. Angela, I left the skull on your desk." Angela smiled and thanked her before hurrying off the platform. Amy turned back to Sweets. "Dr. Brennan told me to go with you to see Zack." Sweets smiled lightly then nodded.

"All right then. Let's go." He turned to head off the platform then over to the elevator. Amy followed, glairing lightly at the guard. Neither spoke as they headed down to the ground floor then out to get a taxi. Sweets started looking through a file, no doubt on Zack. He didn't seem to be in the same circle as the others. Perhaps he would be more willing to tell her what was going on.

Amy started to ask then lost her nerve and closed her mouth. Luckily, Sweets seemed to notice and looked up. "Did you need something?"

"What did Zack do? Why is he in the ward?"

Sweets took a deep breath. He knew the truth but due to patient confidentiality, he couldn't tell her. "Zack fell victim to a cannibalistic cereal killer's mind tricks and killed a man."

Amy's face was full of shock. Then, suddenly she laughed. "Zack couldn't kill anyone."

Sweets just nodded. "Well he confessed."

"We're here." The driver said.

Both looked over at the driver. They hadn't been paying attention to what was going on outside. They opened the doors and stepped out. The driver rolled down the window and Amy reached into her pocket to pull out her wallet. "It's ok." Sweets said, grabbing the money from his own pocket and giving it to the driver. They turned and headed into the building. Amy straitened out the lab coat she was still wearing and flattened her hair with the file under her arm. They entered through the sliding doors and walked to the desk. "We're here to see Dr. Zack Addy." Sweet's said, handing over his badge. The lady nodded and led them through a different door then they had gone through before. They where led to a small room, almost like an interrogation room. A few minutes later, Zack entered and his face lit up when he saw Amy.

"You came back quickly. Is the case over?" She grinned back at him.

"Not yet, Dr. Brennan said to tag a long with Dr. Sweets." Amy wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. A few seconds later she stepped

"Why?"

"Because if I get the full job at the Jeffersonian, I'll be studying under Dr. Sweets to continue my degree in Forensic Psychology." Zack sat next to her and she let her arm fall over his shoulder, while Sweets sat across the table. "But first…what have you been up to? It's been so long. We didn't really get to talk last time."

Zack nodded. "It's been weird. Right after you left I wasn't really able to…function properly. But after a month I realized there was nothing I could do and I knew I had to hold up my end of the promise." He smiled lightly, recalling the memory. "I started working really hard on school, took a few night courses and summer courses and graduated a year later. Then I went on to collage. I stayed in Michigan because they had a great Forensics school and it was cheaper in state. It wasn't long until I got a letter from Dr. Brennan saying she would like to take me on as her grad student. I flew down here to D.C. no charge and started a new life. It was boring for while. Then Booth came along and Dr. Brennan got to go out into the field and we started getting better cases. I've seen some really odd stuff but it's been great working with them. I've learned a lot at the Jeffersonian." He sighed heavily and his eyes had glazed slightly as the memories flooded over him.

Amy nodded. "It was like that a bit for me, too. Once I got into Canada, well, it didn't really take long for me to fit in. Oddly enough, I was more popular in a new school than I ever was back in Michigan. Maybe it was because I wasn't stereotyped there, I was able to start over…and I was –still am- into hockey. It's bigger in Montreal than in Michigan. I got a lot of attention for that, for playing, like people in America do for playing football. It was weird to them, in a good way. Oh sorry, I'm sorta babbling…"

Zack shook his head wildly. "No, no it's fine. I like your babbling."

Neither seemed to remember Sweets, who just sat there, watching and listening.

Amy smiled and continued. "Anyway, I spent a lot of time working on school. I, too, took extra classes, a lot of on_line courses and I graduated two months after I got there. I got a full scholarship for my playing, and also for graduating early and a few other things. I went to community collage but only stayed there for half a year before moving on. I majored in Forensics, minored in Anthropology, got a job with the police force and took as many classes as I possible could. I aced most of them and got my doctorate a few years later. After that, I switched my focuses and started majoring in entomology and minoring in psychology. I'm still working on those doctorates. Any way, I got a job at the forensics lab but ended up working practically the whole case. I was my own anthropologist, agent, entomologist, photographer, and profiler. The only help I had was my mentor who only did the anthropology and the resident pathologist. Then I got a call from Dr. Brennan and, despite how much I loved it up there in Canada I couldn't refuse her. She's famous and brilliant and the best I've ever read about. I was packing my bag before the call disconnected. Then I had to tell my boss about it and he said go for it. They could deal without me and that I would love it in D.C. I got on a plane two days later and came in this morning. And…that's my life up to today."

Zack smiled. "Wow. Guess we didn't differ too much after we got split up." He laughed lightly. "But you'll like it at the Jeffersonian. It's a good place with a lot of great cases. After you left I never really had much fun. It was all work and no play, but there it's different. The work and play is intertwined so much you can't differ one from the other."

Amy smile faded a little. "They miss you, you know. They don't really say it, and I wasn't there when you where so I can't compare the way they act but I can see it in their faces. They miss you."

Zack's gaze fell from her face to the floor. "I miss them too. It's incredible, how you don't realize how much you want or need someone or something until it isn't around anymore." He looked back up at her. "But they'll do well with you on the team. You're…you can take my place just fine."

"I'll never replace you Zack. No one will ever be able to replace you." She let her arm move to his shoulder and hugged him lightly.

"That just makes everything I did seem that much worse." He sighed and looked back up at her.

"What…did you do?" Amy glanced up at Sweets. Though he had told her, she wanted to hear it from him. Her eyes filled with curiosity then changed as they reflected the pain in Zack's.

"So many things. I did so much wrong. But it all seemed right at the time. He spun it to make it sound like what he was doing was right, that the world needed to be rid of these people. I knew he was wrong, I knew who he was and I was going to tell Dr. Brennan and everyone else as soon as I got back but the more he talked the more sense he made. What he said was rational and logical but I knew the others wouldn't see it that way. I had to protect him, even if it meant…pain." His eyes shifted down to his bandaged hands.

"Who? Zack…" She let her arm wrap around his, careful not to touch his hand.

"He didn't tell me his name, though latter, after Booth caught up with him, they identified him as a man named Gerald Darby. He was a murderer who made me kill a lobbyist. He had said that I would be made to dine with him after the next victim. Thankfully, that never happened. But after he was caught and I had had the sense talked into me by Dr. Brennan I realized that there was nothing I would have been able to do. He would have killed me and the people I loved if I didn't do what he said. It isn't an excuse, I know but…" He shook his head and a single tear rolled down his cheek. Amy reached up to brush it away.

"Is that what happened to your hands?"

"It was because of that, yea. I switched a few chemicals in the lab and the experiment exploded. But it was worse than I had calculated because Hodgins wouldn't get behind the glass. I got third degree burns on my hands. They've healed as best they could and the doctors bandaged them but it hurts incredibly to do anything with them. Eating is difficult, getting into bed, opening a door. Any physical touch, even with the bandages, hurts immensely."

Amy's gaze fell to his hands. She felt bad for him, but an idea popped into her head. She might be able to help him. But she would worry about that later. She could tell this subject was eating away at him and decided to talk about something else. A different case. "We're waiting to identify the victim now." At the mention of the new case he had composed "Without info from the current scene or evidence I won't be much help."

She nodded. There isn't much I can do about that now. I'm really not sure how they would feel about us bringing a corpse in here."

Zack laughed.

The silence that followed was awkward until Amy looked over at Sweets. He had been writing something down but stopped when they did. "Oh you can continue this is really very fascinating. I've never seen him converse like this with someone. Perhaps you can help him to understand that what he did was wrong."

Zack sighed. 'I know it was wrong, Dr. Sweets."

"Then why are we still here?"

"Because I refuse to tell the truth about what happened. I can't tell anyone the truth, you know that and you know why."

Now it was Amy's turn to be nearly ignored. She wasn't sure what was going on but by the common signs, they had been down this path before. The pairs bickering was cut short when a cell phone went off. Amy reached into her pocket and looked down at the caller ID. It wasn't a number she recognized but she answered it anyway. "Hollester." There was a mumbling on the other end that Zack couldn't quite make out. Then Amy nodded a few times, muttered "Thanks" and hung up. "They've found the victim and Dr. Brennan wants me to go with them to talk to the parents. I'm sorry Zack, I have to go." A sense of pain filled Zack's eyes as he watched her but he nodded. He had had that job once. Amy stood but left her arm wrapped around his, forcing him to rise as well. Then she dropped his arm and wrapped her other around his neck. Her arm was rested over his shoulder and her arm was against his back. She held him tightly for a few seconds and Zack's cheeks reddened as the heat rose. After a few seconds she let go of him. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Tomorrow, I promise…tomorrow." She smiled lightly and turned to leave. She was halfway to the exit door when she turned her head back around and waved at him. He waved back. She smiled and turned back to head out the door. She heard Sweets and Zack start up their conversation again.

She waited on the curb for a taxi but she didn't have to wait long, though it wasn't a taxi that picked her up. A shiny red corvette turned the corner and stopped in front of her. The window was rolled down electronically from inside and she saw Angela's smiling face looking out at her. She motioned for Amy to enter. Slightly unsure, but unable to resist she opened the door and stepped into the passenger seat of the incredibly expensive car. She closed the door and grabbed for the seat belt, the whole time watching Angela closely. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong of course. I'm just here to take you back to the lab. I heard you're in the same boat as Zack was no car or house."

"Oh…" Amy frowned but nodded. "Yea, I hadn't really thought much on that."

"Well, Hodgins is willing to extend the same deal to you as he did to Zack. You can live in the garage, its big enough for you. There's a bedroom, a bath room a kitchen a living room, everything you'll need. No rent and he'll drive you to work every morning as long as you're waiting by the car at seven. What do you say?"

"Um…No rent?" Angela nodded. "Ok. Sounds good for now." Angela's foot slid onto the gas as the car rolled silently forward. "I need to get back to the lab though. Zack gave me a few ideas about the case."

Angela glanced over at Amy. "Zack huh? You two seemed pretty chummy earlier. How exactly do you two know each other?" A smile started to form on her lips and, you know Angela, there's nothing small about her smiles.

"We um…He was my best friend before I moved to Canada."

"Sweetie, I know a thing or two about friendships and interests and you two aren't just friends."

Amy opened her mouth to speak, probably to defend herself then closed it. Then, after a few seconds she spoke again, obviously trying to change the subject. "Is the kitchen stocked?"

"Stocked? I'm sure I don't know what you mean." Angela laughed and took her eyes off the road for a second to look over at Amy.

"Well…I need simple kitchen things like pans, **mixing bowls**, plates, silver where. You know…I can buy all my own foods. Unless you have biscuits…**chicken biscuits are good**…The best actually. I like fried chicken, too, and chicken wings and –"

"Okay, I get it." Angela laughed as she cut Amy off. She had been rambling on, trying to distract Angela from the whole 'Zack' topic. She bit her lip and inhaled sharply, afraid to ask incase she brought it back. Angela smiled again. "He likes you, you know."

"What?"

"Zack. I know you probably don't want to talk about it. You don't seem like that kind of person, but I know about this stuff. They way he looked at you when you first came in."

"We where best friends and I haven't seen him in ten years, of course he's going to look at me." She was starting to lock the gate to the wall.

"Of course, but it wasn't the gaze that an old friend would have. It was the gaze of an old lover watching someone come back from the dead."

"I was never dead."

"I don't know the whole story, but I know what I've seen and even from the one time I know he loves you. And you love him, Amy."

Amy closed her eyes and turned to face out the window. She couldn't deny that she wanted more from him than friendship. "I can't lie. I've never been able to lie, therefore I will say nothing."

The car stopped and Amy opened her eyes. They where at a red light. Angela turned to look at the girl seated beside her. "You don't have to lie, Amy. And I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude. You've known me less than a day and already I'm finding a way into your personal life. I'm sorry."

Amy inhaled sharply. She wasn't able to speak, afraid that she would confess all. She didn't even know what was going on with her. After ten vacant years with nearly no social life the only person that had ever mattered to her suddenly appeared again. She didn't know what to say or how to act. She had loved him more than anything, more than her own life and she would have done anything to help him. But she wouldn't risk their friendship over something as trivial as a relationship. She had held back her true emotions. It had been hard, watching him go out with other girls but then again, he had never really had a knack with dating. But she had always been there for him. Then she moved. She was going to tell him but she didn't want to depart on something like that. She had sworn that she would tell him if they ever met again but now, after actually seeing him…she couldn't.

"Let's just get back to the lab so you can go with Booth and Brennan." Angela said after a few seconds silence.

"Yea...Thanks" She smiled and a small giggle escaped her lips. She would push Zack to the back of her mind, if that were possible, until she was alone and could think about the situation in the proper manner. Then a thought struck her. "Is Booth at the Jeffersonian now? There's something I need to talk to him about."

"Um, yea." She glanced over at the clock in the dashboard. "They said they would wait for you."

"Good."

It was only a few more minutes back to the Jeffersonian. Once there, they both stepped out of the car and headed in. Amy spotted Booth in the lobby, waiting for Dr. Brennan. Angela continued up to the lab while Amy walked over to talk to Booth.

"Hello, Agent Booth. I had something I wanted to talk to you about. And I wanted to ask you a few legal questions."

"Legal questions?" His voice shone with curiosity and suspicion.

"Zack went to court right? For the…murder?"

"Yes, he did. He pled guilty and was given a deal."

"Did you testify?"

"Yes." He was getting impatient. "As the arresting officer I had to."

"Who was his lawyer? And judge?"

"Miss Caroline Julian was his lawyer. And the judge was a man named Harold Encino. Why?"

A look of pure fire spread across her face. "Because I'm going to get Zack out of that asylum."


End file.
